


Sleep Deprived

by echo_abendrot



Series: On A Train [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: AU, M/M, Sleep, Travel, sleep deprived, train
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-13
Updated: 2015-11-13
Packaged: 2018-05-01 11:30:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5204135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/echo_abendrot/pseuds/echo_abendrot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Someone's sleeping in Hinata's seat, but he doesn't mind - the train's pretty empty anyway, he can sit nearby and let the guy sleep.<br/>And he can suffer the consequences of letting him do that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sleep Deprived

**Author's Note:**

> I talk so much I'm so sorry. I babble. I should really cut down on what I say about a scene. Sorry!  
> Hope you enjoy!  
> This was written on a sleep-deprived, essay-writing Sunday, where I actually hadn't eaten or drank enough, so I apologise if that really shows at all (I think it does toward the end oops) As of posting it I haven't checked it so I'll probably do that eventually.  
> (also I reposted this - it used to be in the same work as A Break in the Routine but I moved it here instead)

Inside the waiting area was cold, but it was freezing outside. As the train arrived at the platform, Hinata bounced on his feet to keep warm, then burst out the door and onto the train quickly, so he wasn't exposed to the chilly air for too long. He shivered and stretched his stiff limbs as he looked around the train.

As expected, it was fairly empty. A four-carriage train was more than enough space for late weeknight travellers. Hinata fished his ticket from his pocket and set out to find his seat in the next carriage down. A few people glanced toward him as the doors swished open and he dragged his bag along the floor. They weren't interested, though, and went back to whatever they'd been doing; reading, dozing off or tapping away at their phones to keep themselves busy. 

Hinata had booked a seat at a table, and when he spotted the only 'reserved' tag in the back corner of the carriage, he saw that seat was occupied. Someone was slumped in his seat, arms folded and head resting against the window. He was sleeping, undisturbed by the motion of the train as his head shook with it, occasionally banging lightly against the glass.

It didn't bother Hinata that his seat had been taken. He only had a half hour trip to get home and there were no stops in between, so he simply settled into the seat opposite the sleeping traveller after pushing his luggage into the rack above, and the train began to move off. The man was sleeping peacefully and quietly, though, so Hinata sank back in his chair and relaxed, pulling out his phone to pass the time.

Despite his distractions, Hinata's gaze kept drifting away from his phone and toward the passenger opposite. He always thought it weird that people could fall asleep on public transport. His flatmate did it once on a long bus journey home, and he ended up further from home than he'd started, stranded for hours in a foreign place. Hinata himself was pretty useless when it came to sleeping on transport - he was always the one to fall asleep on boring car rides when he ran out of energy and conked out - but a train could take you miles away in minutes. 

As Hinata stared, he felt his cheeks grow hot. Hinata was aware he'd been staring at the man now for a few minutes. Not exactly discrete, Hinata sometimes got caught staring rudely at strangers, and it just felt weirder to be watching someone who's sleeping. That didn't stop him, though, and there was something about his face that made Hinata frown. 

His chin rested on his chest, so dark hair cast a shadow across his brow. In his sleeping state his face looked relaxed and free from creases of strain or worry, but his eyes didn't match with that impression. Dark circles, not caused by shadow, sat heavily under closed eyes, his lids carrying a purple tint and the skin around his cheekbones red. His pale lips were parted slightly and Hinata could hear his steady breathing still. 

Blushing obviously now, Hinata looked away. He was curious about the man opposite, but he knew he shouldn't stare any more. His flatmates would tell him off if they were there - though if they were, the sleeping passenger would have woken up ages ago; Tanaka and Noya aren't known for being quiet.

Before half of Hinata's journey had passed, his fellow passenger began to stir. He shuffled in his seat, banging his head against the window as he moved, and slowly his eyes fluttered open. Hinata looked up briefly, seeing the furrowed expression creasing the forehead of the man opposite as he looked at Hinata. Hinata didn't like the way he looked at him - curiously, but with slight disgust to the expression - so he looked away again. Out of the corner of his eyes he watched the man stretching, glancing at the inky view out the window, and checking his watch. Mid-stretch, arm stuck up in the air, the man stopped, eyes bulging at the sight of the time.

Oh no, thought Hinata. He's done a Tanaka and missed his stop, hasn't he? For some reason he felt bad, and he sank further into his seat. Maybe he just felt bad that this stranger had made an error. Maybe he didn't like what the realisation was doing to the face that had been so serene in sleep.

The man sat upright immediately and again looked out the window, as if the darkness and distant lights gave any clue as to where they were. He looked around the carriage and his eyes fell back on Hinata.

'Have we passed the city stop?' he asked, talking low and urgently. 

Damn, thought Hinata, that was where I got on. 

'Er... yeah, about ten minutes ago,' he replied with a sympathetic expression.

The man groaned and slammed a fist onto the table. Hinata jumped back, his phone sliding into his lap. 

'Dammit!' the man hissed loudly. He dropped his head into his hands resting on the table and growled, 'Dammit, dammit, dammit!'

Hinata gulped. 'Sorry,' he muttered, unhelpfully, and received an angry glare from the man. Hinata forgot everything about the serene sleeper from earlier. How that face could have looked anything but pissed off just wouldn't process with Hinata now he'd seen how much anger could bloom in those eyes in just a couple of minutes. 

The train conductor appeared at their side, pushing his glasses to sit better on his nose. 'Oi,' he called to the man, without raising his voice. 'Please keep it down, you're disturbing the other passengers. Tickets,' he said in the same tone.  

Hinata's ticket was on the table, and he handed it to the bored-looking conductor, whose eyes kept darting back to the angry man. He scribbled on Hinata's ticket and threw it back onto the table, holding his hand out for the man's ticket. He was slamming his bags on the table, hunting through angrily, and when he held out the ticket the conductor snatched it away. The man folded his arms again and looked out the window - which was better use as a mirror in this darkness - and didn't pick up his ticket again when the conductor threw it back.

'Missed your stop?' he asked, smirking slightly. Hinata looked away; this wasn't his problem, he shouldn't get involved. 'You'll have a hard time getting back there tonight,' he said helpfully before he carried on into the next carriage.

'That was rude,' Hinata muttered when the conductor was out of earshot.

The man huffed. 'He should've woken me up,' he said through gritted teeth.

'How was he to know you'd get off there?'

In response, the man ripped the 'reserved' tag from behind his head and threw it in front of Hinata. The reservation details were printed there, declaring this seat as his from one stop to the city one, and below that was Hinata's reservation. True, the conductor should have checked the seat reservations more carefully. 'Oh...' said Hinata. 'You were supposed to get off there and I'd have got your seat,' he explained.

Definitely the wrong thing to say. Blue flames erupted in the man's eyes as he glared at Hinata, more anger than he'd seen so far. 'Why didn't you wake me up?' he hissed. His hands were flat on the table and Hinata didn't think it'd take much for him to reach across the table and grab Hinata by the shirt, yanking him into the air easily. 

'I-I didn't realise,' he stuttered. 'I'm sorry!'

The man grunted and sat back in his chair, one hand massaging his temple. Hinata thought he'd better shut up now and make himself as small a target as possible.

Hinata kept his attention firmly on his phone. He heard nothing but the motions of the train as he absent-mindedly played some game, until the man spoke up again. Hinata jumped when he thought he was addressing him, but he held his phone at his ear.

'Hey, it's Kageyama,' he began, and Hinata split his attention between the game and the conversation. 'No, I... well it's not my fault! The train, I-I didn't get off in time, I...' the person on the phone was talking, and Hinata watched Kageyama's expression move from biting his lip in embarrassment to so annoyed he almost banged his head on the table. 'I didn't do it on purpose! I... no, I'm not sure, I don't think there are any more trains tonight... yeah... a bus this late? O-okay, I'll see what I can do... I might just have to get to a hotel and see in the morning...' Kageyama tilted the receiver away from his mouth and sighed. 'I can still make it,' he assured the person on the other end. 'No, really, I'm not trying to avoid this. Why would I do that? I... I can't hear you. Hello? Hey I'm on a train, what do you... yeah, see you... I said, see you tomorrow.'

When he finished the call he rested his arms on the table, and his head on top of them. He sighed loudly. 

Again Hinata was curious, but he didn't want to pry, or even look in his direction. This guy might bite his head off if he simply glanced at him. 

The rest of the journey was uneventful. At the next stop, Kageyama jumped up the moment the announcement was made, even though they were still a few minutes from the stop. Hinata made the point of going through to the next carriage and leaving the train there so he didn't have to have Kageyama glaring at him any more.

Still, as Hinata left the train and was hit by the chilly winter air, he felt bad again. If there were no trains, Kageyama would have to get a bus, and Hinata knew this area - buses were dodgy enough in the daytime, and when it wasn't below 0 degrees out, and he really didn't want someone to have to go through that because of what he'd done. It was really his fault, partly, so he should do something to help.

He found himself stood squinting at the list of train times that was plastered on the wall of the platform. Nearing half ten at night now, it was pitch black all around Hinata, and the platform lights were dim. As the conductor said, though, there were no more trains going back in that direction until seven o'clock the next morning. Hinata sighed, and then wondered why he'd been looking anyway - Kageyama had probably gone by now. Hinata had seen him knocking on the doors labelled 'STAFF' after he'd left the train, but nobody was around - the ticket desks were closed and there didn't seem to be anyone signalling the arrival or departure of a train.

Shivering, Hinata grabbed his bag and hurried through the cold corridor that lead to the foyer. He expected other travellers to have gone by now, but he heard a voice up ahead.

'...not a single room available?' someone asked, and Hinata realised it was Kageyama. He'd hoped he hadn't left already - glad he wasn't going straight to find a bus - and it sounded like he was looking for somewhere to stay. 'Yeah. Whatever,' he growled, slamming down the phone. As Hinata turned the corner, Kageyama glanced up and immediately frowned at the sight of him. 

Hinata gulped, but flashed a sympathetic smile. 'H-have you found a hotel to stop at?'

'No. They're full up.'

'Well, hotels around here are pretty crap any way,' Hinata shrugged, edging closer to Kageyama. 'Are you going to get a bus?'

Kageyama shrugged and grabbed his bags. 'Probably.'

'Probably?' called Hinata, following Kageyama out into the night air. 'Do you have any idea where you're going? And, you know, the buses around here are pretty grim...' he trailed off, and almost banged into Kageyama as he spun round.

'I don't have a choice,' Kageyama hissed. 'I missed my stop and I need to be somewhere.' He turned and walked off again, shaking his suitcase in frustration when it got caught on the pavement.

'You could always stay at my place?' Hinata suggested.

What are you saying. 

'I mean... it's sort of my fault that you didn't get off at the right stop...'

Really, Shouyou, what are you doing.

Hinata had no idea why he suggested that. He meant it, though. Kageyama was clearly angry at him for not waking him, and Hinata felt bad. The thought of him having to get a freezing bus, travelling perhaps hours to his destination, or even settling in some doorway for the night until he could get a train, were really getting to Hinata. If he didn't invite him back, he'd be up all night worrying about this stranger. Two things came to mind as he stood out in the cold with him - the way his face looked when he was sleeping: serene, but sad and tired; and the second was that phone call. He didn't like how the other person had sounded - sort of exasperated and angry, though Hinata had heard no words. It made Kageyama look worse, too. Curiosity bubbled within him, and he supposed that played a big part of him wanting to invite the stranger back home.

'I'll be fine with the bus,' said Kageyama stubbornly. Outside the station was a board with directions and information about buses, so Kageyama stood under that and tried to read it with only the dim light of the streetlamp nearby. Hinata sighed. 

'Are you sure? I really don't mind-'

'Yes,' he hissed angrily. Hinata saw his hands gripping the handle of his suitcase tighter, knuckles whitening.

'Well, fine,' shrugged Hinata, wrapping his scarf tighter. He left then, around the corner to wait for the night bus.

He still felt bad for leaving Kageyama, and he knew now he'd be awake all night worrying, but what else could he do? Kageyama was stubborn, clearly, and Hinata had twice offered to let him stay at his house - and he'd apologised, yet Kageyama hadn't acknowledged that.  

If he wants to freeze, then fine.

Not that Hinata truly wanted that.

Hinata danced on the spot at the bus stop down the road, willing the bus to be early just once. Nobody else was around. People passed by, but it was the middle of the week - so few people were in any of the pubs of the small town centre, where nightlife was sparse even at the weekends. Cars whizzed past the stop, shooting icy breezes right at him. As he spun around again, he heard a suitcase rattling along the pavement nearby, and Kageyama joined him under the shelter.

They didn't say anything for a moment. Kageyama didn't even throw a glare toward Hinata this time, so Hinata spoke up.

'Know where you're going, do you?' Hinata asked, putting every effort into not sounding as cold as he was. 

'Yeah,' Kageyama said quietly.

Hinata raised an eyebrow. 'You don't sound confident.'

Kageyama didn't reply.

Hinata shrugged, realising maybe Kageyama was admitting defeat. He sighed and, again, made an offer. 'I was serious, by the way, about staying at my place for the night. I-I know I'm a stranger, and everything, but you don't know where you are and where you're going. There's a train that can take you to the city at half seven tomorrow morning - would that be early enough to get to where you need to be?'

Why was Hinata inviting such a rude and stubborn person home? It was no longer because he felt sorry for him or because he wanted to make it up to him for not waking him up. Hinata needed to know now why Kageyama had looked the way he did earlier, and why that phone call had upset him so much, and what it was that turned him from angry and annoyed to simply tired and fed-up. Hinata had seen he was stubborn, so why now was he letting Hinata see him weaker? 

'Yeah,' muttered Kageyama. 'But I can find somewhere else.'

Hinata laughed, slightly annoyed now. 'There is nowhere else, unless you're gonna sleep in some alley.'

Again Kageyama said nothing.

With a sigh, Hinata turned away. 'Look, my bus will be here in about a minute. You're welcome to join me.'

He didn't even look at Kageyama for that long minute. He hated that he felt so bad for Kageyama. He'd apologised, and Kageyama wasn't the nicest person around, but Hinata couldn't help it. 

When the bus came, Hinata gladly climbed aboard where it was slightly warmer. Part of him was surprised to see Kageyama climbing on after him, taking the empty seat behind Hinata. He didn't look happy about it, but Hinata was - he had to keep his head down for the first few minutes of their journey so Kageyama wouldn't think he'd made the wrong decision and had landed himself with an insane person. 

They didn't speak on the bus. Once they came to Hinata's stop, Kageyama followed like a pet. As the bus pulled away from them Kageyama spoke.

'Are you sure this is alright?'

'Totally,' replied Hinata. 'Why, are you scared to be going home with a stranger? Do I look scary?'

Kageyama grunted. 'Definitely not.'

Hinata smiled a little. 'My flatmates are away so they won't care,' he explained. 'It'll probably be cold, though, since nobody's been home for days. Oh, my name's Hinata, by the way. Hinata Shouyou.' 

'Kageyama Tobio,' he answered, saying nothing more.

When the boys had arrived at Hinata's flat, it was indeed freezing. The hallway was dark and uninviting, but Hinata was quick to flick on switches and begin warming the place up. 

'We don't have a spare room so you'll have to sleep on the couch,' Hinata called to Kageyama. The stranger was hanging around in the hall, unsure where he could and couldn't step, watching Hinata bouncing around the open plan flat. 'Tea?'

'No, thank you... can I use your bathroom?'

'Sure, it's just over there.'

Kageyama wheeled his suitcase into the bathroom and closed the door. He'd left his shoes, coat and scarf at the door, and a curious Hinata couldn't help but snoop whilst he had the chance. He'd invited a rude stranger into his house and knew nothing of him, so he was really doing a good thing, checking he wasn't dodgy. 

Hinata dug into the pockets of his coat. First he found the crumpled ticket from the train, and a pen that didn't work. In another pocket he found a few loose coins and some papers, which he pulled out as quietly as he could. When he unfolded the crumpled papers he found a photograph. It captured a family of three, all squinting at the sun as they smiled at the camera. The dad held his son in his arms, the little boy of maybe eight years old flashing a shy grin, but looking happy and safe in his father's arms. The mother had an arm wrapped tightly around her husband, pressing her cheek close to her son's. Little of the background could be seen, but Hinata spotted bright grass and the checkered cloth of a picnic blanket.

Underneath the photograph was a crumpled note addressed to Kageyama. It was only a post-it note, with a quickly scrawled message Hinata could just make out - something about a party happening the following day, one Kageyama just couldn't miss, apparently.

Hinata frowned. Why would Kageyama have crushed a photo of his family? Has there been an issue with his family - was that why he looked so worn out when he'd been sleeping on the train? It was absolutely none of Hinata's business but... he still wondered.

He jumped as he heard the bathroom door and quickly shoved the photograph and note back into the coat pocket. He turned to a cabinet behind and quickly pulled out a spare pillow and duvet, glad that he had a genuine reason to have been so close to Kageyama's belongings just now.

Kageyama didn't look suspicious though. He hadn't changed out of his clothes but his face looked red, like he'd splashed it with water and rubbed at his eyes. He thanked Hinata for the duvet and pillow, but he was reluctant to sit anywhere.

'Oh!' Hinata said suddenly. 'I didn't get a sheet.' Back near the door, by the coats, Hinata searched the cupboard for a sheet to drape over the couch, but it was Kageyama that spotted the photograph lying on the floor, which must have fallen when Hinata quickly put it back. 

Kageyama dove for the photograph, snatching it away, thinking Hinata hadn't seen it. Hinata jumped, completely unaware the photo had fallen out, but he took this as an opportunity to feed his curiosity.

'I-is that your family?' Hinata asked, knowing he probably shouldn't. 

Kageyama said nothing but fixed Hinata with a nasty glare, daring him to say anything else on the matter. Somehow it made Hinata shut up, and also made him want to hide away any family photos that happened to be in the flat. 

'OK... did you say you wanted tea?' Hinata ran back to the kitchen to avoid the glare, and they both fell silent soon after. Kageyama settled himself on the couch hesitantly, not exactly being polite to his host now he'd asked such a question. Hinata didn't mind though - he understood this was a sensitive topic, he was just bad at shutting up.

'Erm, well...' Hinata glanced at the clock and saw it was gone midnight now. Kageyama had to be up early to get his train, and he made it pretty obvious that he wanted to sleep now. Hinata watched his eyes growing heavy. 'Good night then, sleep well.'

Kageyama yawned. 'I haven't been sleeping well at all, but thanks,' he muttered.

'Why's that? Anything to do with that crumpled photo?' He just couldn't leave it alone, clearly. 

Kageyama was quickly being dragged under by sleep, so he didn't even glare at Hinata this time, he just shrugged and tucked himself tighter under the duvet. 

'C'mon,' Hinata prompted, folding his arms and leaning against his doorframe. 'Something's clearly bothering you.'

Kageyama sighed and looked around, for a while, but Hinata knew he was about to say something. Eventually he sat up a little and shrugged again. 'My parents got divorced. That's all.'

There was a flutter in Hinata's chest that made him feel nauseous as he made the connection between the crumpled photo and Kageyama's face. Would the purple lids and red eyes be from his upset over the divorce or lack of sleep through worry? That'd certainly explain why he hasn't been sleeping well and missed his station stop. Suddenly Hinata felt really bad about drawing that out of him. 'What do you mean, that's all? That's a big thing.'

'No it isn't,' replied a sleepy Kageyama, head tilted slightly and looking curiously at Hinata, like it was weird he was challenging him on the matter.

'Says who?'

Kageyama looked away, fiddling with the tassels of a cushion nearby. 'My cousins don't think it's that bad. They keep saying it's common nowadays, that I shouldn't let it bother me. And I'm not a kid any more so it shouldn't affect me,' he shrugged again and slumped in his seat.

'That's ridiculous,' said Hinata, accidentally letting out a laugh. Well, he couldn't help it - how stupid of a thing to say to your cousin! Hinata hadn't experience divorce but he knew it wasn't something that only mattered if you were still a kid; if your parents split up that's a big deal, it's your family splitting in two, sides being taken, with you slap bang in the middle. 'And...' Hinata started piecing information together. 'There's something happening tomorrow with one side of the family, right?'

Kageyama nodded. 'There's a family gathering tomorrow, since not everyone can make it for the new year. It's my mum's family and my cousins on her side are just... ' Kageyama couldn't find the words, but held out his hands and made a crushing motion, like he was squashing a ball, or pretending he was crushing their skulls. Hinata laughed. 'The cousins have organised it all and they still expect me to turn up, even though every time I've seen them all they've done is make fun of my dad and tell me to cheer up.'

'Do you have to go?' Hinata asked. 

Kageyama looked up, like he'd not even considered that before. 'Of course I do, it's a family event.' 

'Well,' said Hinata, yawning. 'If my family treated me like that, I wouldn't bother. Good night,' he said again, knowing Kageyama was about two minutes away from dozing off entirely anyway. Hinata wasn't far behind, and flopped onto his bed, crawling under the covers still dressed. 

* * *

 

Hinata could always wake up early, but he hated naturally waking up so early when he'd been up so late. He'd been in bed for about six hours, but several times throughout the night he kept waking up. He'd known he'd worry about Kageyama if he'd been left out in the cold somewhere trying to get a bus or find a hotel, but even when the guy was safe and in his lounge, Hinata still worried.

It was what he'd said about his family, how unsupportive they were being, and Hinata just thought it awful. Kageyama wasn't exactly perfect, and Hinata didn't know him that well, but his family sounded horrible to treat him like that.

At quarter to seven, Hinata rolled out of bed. He squinted at the bright white sky when he opened his curtains, but let them fall back down to block the light. He staggered into the living room, carefully tiptoeing around to the bathroom. When he'd finished in there he went to the kitchen for some breakfast, and miraculously through all his banging and spilling of milk and cereal, Kageyama never woke up.

He was still curled up on the couch, quite content. Hinata supposed he was in as deep a sleep as he'd been on the train the night before. When Hinata, munching on his cereal, wandered into the living room again he snuck a look at his guest, feeling even weirder now to be watching him sleep. He only wanted to check, though, that he looked the same as he had asleep on the train - his face was clear, but still lilac and rosy in places, and not one crease ruined the picture. It was as if he didn't have anything to worry about, when his world had been split apart. He looked like the child in the photo.

The photo was clutched in Kageyama's hand, resting on his chest over the duvet. Hinata smiled seeing that, and a bit of milk dribbled down his chin. Again he was shocked by how serene sleeping Kageyama looked compared with the awake version - though, he had seen a few variations of Kageyama: sleepy and blurting out his problems, angry and likely to throw you out of the window, as well as sad and defeated, ready to give up. What he hadn't seen was happy. If the child in the photograph knew he'd one day lose his parents as a set, Hinata bet he'd never stop smiling, as broadly as his parents were, cherishing each moment whilst he still had them.

Hinata sighed and walked away. As he did, a quiet tinkling sounded nearby, and he noticed Kageyama's phone alarm signalling seven o'clock. Without even realising what he was doing, Hinata snatched up the phone and turned the alarm off. For the second time in 24 hours, Hinata let Kageyama rest - he seemed like he needed it. 

Nearly two hours later, Hinata had showered and dressed and sat in his room keeping himself occupied with games or reading or scrolling through the internet, and all that time Kageyama never woke up. He rolled over and dropped his photo, and Hinata was surprised at how quickly he jumped up to set it safely on the coffee table, but Kageyama stayed sound asleep.

He stirred a little more when Hinata's flatmates came home.

'Shouyou we're home!' shouted Noya from the door, and Hinata leapt up, jumping over furniture, to shush them as quickly as he could. They both, loudly, bounded into the room and looked oddly at Hinata's funny arm movements he was making to tell them to be quiet.

Tanaka and Noya exchanged a confused look, and then Tanaka nodded to the couch curiously. 'Erm... who's this?'

Hinata looked over at Kageyama and saw him stirring. His eyes popped open, squinting at the light, and when he spotted Hinata's flatmates he started to sit up, muttering hellos. 

'I'd hide, if I were you,' Hinata muttered to his flatmates, ushering them toward their rooms. They looked back over their shoulders curiously, and Hinata heard Noya excitedly asking if he'd pulled, to which Hinata made a face.

'Morning,' Hinata said cheerily to Kageyama. 'Breakfast?' he asked, hoping to quickly distract him. 

'Mm...' Kageyama mumbled. Hinata stood on his tiptoes to see Kageyama moving around, spotting the photo on the coffee table, and then saw his hand moving toward his phone. Damn, he thought, he's going to flip.

'W-what time is it!?' he yelled, and Hinata spilled tea all over the counter. 'H..HINATA?! How could you let me sleep again?!' He shot up and grabbed at his belongings, dragging his suitcase to the bathroom. 

Hinata was glad Kageyama didn't throw the suitcase at him. He fully expected it. He took a deep breath and stood beside the bathroom, trying to remember exactly why he'd decided that in the first place.

'Kageyama,' he called. 'You don't need to go see your family today, not if it's going to upset you.'

'Yes I do!' he shouted back. 

'Give me one good reason!'

'Because... because they're family!'

'You can cut out family if they're not treating you right,' Hinata pushed. There was a pause as Hinata heard the tap running.

A softer, quieter voice called back to him. 'I can't do that. My parents have split up, I can't split up from my family, too.'

'Oh...' Hinata hadn't thought about it like that. He thought it really sweet, actually, that Kageyama was trying to keep tight hold of his family, even when they clearly weren't any good. 'Well, you don't have to cut them out, but for now, just this one day, you don't have to do what they want. It was a cousin on the phone on the train, wasn't it? You sounded like you hated talking to them. You look shattered, Kageyama, it's going to make you ill!'

The door swung open and Hinata flinched.

'What would you know about me?' Kageyama asked, his voice carrying no anger but no softness, either. 

'Nothing, really. But if I can spot you're upset, your family should be able to, and clearly they haven't.'

Kageyama sighed and considered that. He wheeled his suitcase back into the lounge and sat where he'd been sleeping. Hinata perched on the armchair nearby. As he said nothing for a while, Hinata spoke again.

'I know you're stubborn, actually, so you're thinking now, how am I going to agree with him without admitting he's right?, aren't you?' Hinata grinned. 

To his surprise, a smile flickered on Kageyama's face for a moment. 'No I'm not.'

'Yeah, sure... or maybe you're thinking, this guy seems cool, I wonder what games he has in here.'

Kageyama pulled a face, 'Definitely not,' he spat out.

'What you don't think I'm any good?'

'You don't look it.'

Hinata mocked being offended - though he was genuinely a little offended by how honestly Kageyama was answering, when all Hinata was trying to do was distract him from his cousins and the divorce. 'How's about I prove you wrong?'

'Yeah, you tell 'im, Shouyou!' came Noya's voice from behind his shut door.

'Go on, Hinata!' added Tanaka. 

Hinata grinned and saw a different kind of smile on Kageyama - something playful and mischievous, something willing to accept a challenge.

'Whaddya say, Sleepy Head?'

Kageyama glared, but Hinata stared him down this time. 'You're on.'

Tanaka and Noya joined them in the lounge as loud spectators eating their breakfast. Whatever game Hinata picked out, Kageyama did a excellent job of competing against him, and the score kept level with each new win. Kageyama's phone, behind him, rang some time near 10 o'clock and after a hesitant minute, Kageyama turned it off - he'd come to realise he didn't need those toxic people taking up time he could spend recovering from his parents' divorce, and if a group of strangers understood how to treat him better than his family, surely he owed it to them to absolutely destroy them at every game they threw at him. 

**Author's Note:**

> Like I said I wrote this in a day - all I had beforehand was the prompt of 'you fell asleep in my seat but I didn't wake you up', and the rest was a product of little sleep - I really don't know why it went where it did but there ya go! Thanks for reading!


End file.
